Sports Then and Now

Tyrod Taylor and the Virginia Tech offense struggled until the last minute, then pulled out a dramatic victory.

It will be pretty hard for the rest of the college football season to have an afternoon like we saw this Saturday. If you were lucky enough to be sitting in front of the TV or at a sports bar for the games that started at 3:30 p.m. EDT, you really got a treat.

Just picking which game to focus on was quite a challenge. Though the Virginia Tech/Nebraska game was the only one pitting top 25 teams, there were several other intriguing games during the time period on national television including Oregon/Utah, Notre Dame/Michigan State, USC/Washington and Florida/Tennessee.

As it turned out, all five games went down to the wire with big plays deciding the outcomes.

For 58 minutes it appeared that Nebraska would get its first road win in more than a decade against a ranked opponent. They led 15-10 and had an anemic Virginia Tech offense pinned deep in their own territory.

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Michigan Freshman Tate Forcier led the Wolverines to a late victory over Notre Dame.

Each Sunday during college football season we look at some of the big games, stories, and events from the action of the week.

Are They Really Back?
I noticed a lot of similarities between the outstanding game Saturday afternoon between Michigan and Notre Dame and the equally entertaining contest last Monday night between Florida State and the University of Miami.

Both games featured two teams with proud football traditions that have been struggling in recent years, but appear to be turning the corner back toward respectability.

After Miami turned back Florida State’s final charge in the closing seconds of the game, all post game talk was about whether this signaled the return of Miami as a football power and if FSU was also now poised to return to national relevance.
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That is the theme in the football hotbed of the South.  You better pledge your allegiance to the Gators, Vols, or the Dawgs in the state of Georgia. The Atlanta Falcons? The NFL who?

This is college football country y’all!

Time to paint your faces! Slap that sticker on your SUV! Buy your pet a shirt sporting your favorite team’s logo (yes my friend’s roommate bought a Georgia Bulldogs shirt for two of her cats)!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, NCAA Football=Not Competitive At All Football, I am not a diehard fan by any stretch, but damn these fans are rabid!!

I went to Atlanta for Labor Day Weekend to visit my displaced Yankee buddy. Little did I know, the city was hosting ‘Bama-Virgina Tech at the Georgia dome. The train was packed with fans. Hotels for a 10 miles radius were sold out. The city was under siege for the first time since Sherman arrived.
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I don’t know if it because there is a full moon tonight or what, but there has been a lot of strange things happening in the sports world.

First Night Of College Football Lacked Offense, But Not Incidents
It was very strange to watch the first night of college football and see so little offensive firepower on the field.

Given that the first game on ESPN featured the “Old Ball Coach” (Steve Spurrier) who was once known as an offensive guru, I really thought the South Carolina-North Carolina State game would be more than a 7-3 defensive struggle.

Then, the second game between Boise State and Oregon would surely be an offensive showcase since Boise State ranked 12th in the nation in scoring last season (37.6 points per game) and Oregon was even better ranking seventh (41.9).

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The Florida Gators are favored by 73 points over Charleston Southern this weekend. Who makes these schedules a blind chimp?  Hear no evil, Speak no evil, and definitely SEE NO EVIL!

The Gators are going to get Medieval on Charleston Sothern’s ass (Classic line from Pulp Fiction)! Charleston Southern is 0-16 against Bowl Subdivision opponents. They got waxed by the “U” (Miami) 52-7 last year.  The Hurricanes limped to a mediocre 7-6 record in 2008.

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This is the “I can’t believe it is almost September” edition. While time seems to fly, at least the fact that it is almost September means that football season is starting. So, this week I’m looking primarily at some subjects related to football and the start of the new season.

College Season Getting Ready To Start
There is a smattering of small college football games starting this weekend, but most schools will play their first game on Labor Day Weekend. Here is a great schedule that is on the ESPN site that includes all schools, from I-A through Division III. (http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule).

There has been a lot written down here in Florida about the Labor Day evening game between Miami and Florida State and the fact that it is not yet a sellout and probably will not be.

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